|
Discovery could bring about an improvement in survival rates, researchers report
A team of researchers say that by quantifying levels of a certain protein that occurs in 90 percent of cancerous and precancerous lesions, they have come up with a new test that detects cancer of the pancreas in its early stage.
In a news release, study author David V. Gold, a member of the Garden State Cancer Center in New Jersey, said that diagnosis of most cases of pancreatic cancer is usually established when the disease is in its advanced stage and treatment is more difficult. In the new study, Gold said that they have discovered that a type of protein called PAM4 "is quite accurate at identifying patients with pancreatic cancer and, if validated in larger studies, would be a promising tool for detecting this disease in its earlier more treatable stages before it spreads to other organs."
The findings of the study were to be presented by the researchers at the Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, held recently in Orlando, Florida. The symposium was co-sponsored by the American Gastroenterological Association Institute, the American Society for Clinical Oncology, the American Society for Radiology Oncology and the Society of Surgical Oncology.
For the study, the researchers ran the test on 68 pancreatic cancer patients who had surgery as well as on 19 healthy subjects. The test was able to detect stage 1 pancreatic cancer 62 percent of the time and 86 percent of the time was able to detect stage 2 pancreatic cancers. Moreover, the test was able to detect stages 3 and 4 pancreatic cancers 91 percent of the time.
In general, 81 percent of pancreatic cancers were detected by the test.
The study found that the test seldom catches cases of pancreatic inflammation known as pancreatitis - a condition often confused with pancreatic cancer.
According to the researchers, the test could serve as a tool for doctors if its worth is validated by more studies. The test could become a valuable tool in the early detection of pancreatic cancers. At present, only 7 percent of pancreatic cancer cases are detected before they have invaded other parts of the body.
|
